Swiss money: India moves up to 58th rank; UK remains on top

India now ranks higher than Pakistan, whose position has slipped from 69th earlier to 74th now (Photo: AP)

SummaryIndia now ranks higher than Pakistan, whose position has slipped from 69th earlier to 74th now

India has moved up to 58th rank in terms of foreign money lying with Swiss banks, but it accounts for a meagre 0.15 per cent of an estimated USD 1.6 trillion total global wealth held in Switzerland's banking system.

The UK has retained its top position with highest share of close to 20 per cent of global wealth in Swiss banking system, followed by the US, West Indies, Germany and Guernsey in the top-five in terms of exposure to banks in Switzerland.

Amid much hue and cry over huge amounts of illicit wealth stashed by Indians in Swiss banks, the latest official data released by Switzerland's central banking authority SNB shows that Indian money in Swiss banks rose by 43 per cent during 2013 to close to Rs 14,000 crore (2.03 billion Swiss francs), pushing its global ranking up from 70th at the end of 2012.

The rankings are based on the direct client exposure as also the funds held through 'fiduciaries' or wealth managers with a total of 283 banks in Switzerland.

India now ranks higher than Pakistan, whose position has slipped from 69th earlier to 74th now, as its total exposure to Swiss banks declined from 1.44 billion Swiss francs at the end of 2012 to 1.23 billion Swiss francs in 2013.

However, China continues to rank higher than India, although it has slipped by four places to 30th. Among other major emerging economies, Brazil, Russia and South Africa are also ranked higher than India, whose 58th position continues to remain the lowest among major economies across the world.

However, only a few countries account for the bulk of global money in Swiss banks and there are only 18 countries whose exposure stands at one per cent or more. Even among these, only the UK and the US have exposure of more than 10 per cent, at about 20 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.